Governance & Policies
Data Retention & Disposal Policy
The Parish Council recognises that the efficient management of its records is necessary to comply with its legal and regulatory obligations, and to contribute to the effective management of the Council.
This policy covers scope, responsibilities, retention, and disposal of records.
Scope of the policy
This policy applies to all records created, received, or maintained by the Council in the course of carrying out its functions. Records are defined as all those documents which facilitate the business carried out by the Council and which are thereafter retained (for a set period) to provide evidence of its transactions or activities. These records may be created, received or maintained in hard copy or electronically.
Responsibilities
The Council has a corporate responsibility to maintain its records and record management systems in accordance with the regulatory environment. The person with overall responsibility for the implementation of this policy is the Clerk to the Parish Council. The Clerk is required to manage the Council’s records in such a way as to promote compliance with this policy, so that information can be retrieved easily, appropriately, and in a timely manner.
Retention schedule
Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, the Council is required to maintain a retention schedule listing the record series which it creates in the course of its business. The retention schedule lays down the length of time for which the record needs to be retained, and the action which should be taken when it is of no further administrative use. The Clerk is expected to manage the record keeping systems using the retention schedule, and to take account of the different retention periods if creating new record keeping systems. Documents should be used electronically where possible, and only printed if unavoidable, to minimise the possibility of loss and/or misuse.
| Document | Minimum Retention | Reason |
| Agendas | Indefinite | Archive |
| Minutes | Indefinite | Archive |
| Annual accounts | Indefinite | Archive |
| Annual returns | Indefinite | Archive |
| Bank statements | 7 years | Audit / management |
| Quotations | 7 years | Audit / management |
| Paid invoices | 7 years | Audit / management / VAT |
| VAT records | 7 years | Audit / management / VAT |
| Salary records | 7 years | Audit / legal |
| Tax & NI records | 7 years | Audit / legal |
| Insurance policies | Whilst valid | Audit / legal |
| Certificate of employers liability | 40 years | Audit / legal |
| Certificate of public liability | 40 years | Audit / legal |
| Asset register (including disposals) | Indefinite | Audit / legal |
| Deeds & leases | Indefinite | Audit / legal |
| Licenses | Whilst valid | Audit / legal |
| Coincillors & staff register of interests | Term of office/employment + 1 year | Management |
| Complaints | 1 year | Management |
| Routine correspondence & emails | 1 year | Management |
| General information not specified above | 6 months | Management |
Disposal procedures
Paper documents that are no longer required for administrative reasons are preferably to be shredded before being disposed of. Shredding is absolutely essential for Council documents that contain sensitive information, such as personal information as specified in GDPR legislation. Electronic documents are to be permanently deleted when no longer required.
Retention of documents schedule
This retention schedule refers to record series regardless of the media in which they are stored. The policy recognises that most payments are now made by BACS (electronic banking) and that bank transactions are automatically recorded by the Council’s bank.
Planning applications
Planning applications and relevant decision notices are available at Westmorland & Furness Council as the planning authority. There is no requirement to retain duplicates locally unless the Council consider that a particularly complex application with many papers would be useful to retain for reference. All Council recommendations in connection with these applications are recorded in the Council Minutes and are retained for the life of the Minutes. Correspondence received in connection with applications will be retained as stated in the above schedule.